It had to be You

fact, I’m just going out of town to avoid the radical Commie crowds. I can’t help you out.”
    Two more phones weren’t answered. One number was answered by a woman who’d never heard of him. The next number was no longer in service. The only other person he reached said much the same as the first had. This old school chum said he was sick at heart at Roosevelt’s winning.
    Robert was disappointed. He’d have to find some fleabag hotel. Or sleep in a homeless shelter. He cringed at the idea of what a shelter would smell like. He’d rather buy a blanket and sleep in a park somewhere.

    There was a knock on the front door of Grace and Favor, and Lily went to see who it was. They weren’t expecting company. A smiling young man with curly red hair was standing there. Behind him was an odd vehicle, designed like a smaller version of a Greyhound bus, but without the windows down the sides. It was white with a painted sign on the side saying “Kelly Connor’s Notions.“
    “I hope I’m not disturbing you, but I have some things in my bus that you might not be able to find anywhere close by. May I bring my sample case inside?”
    Mrs. Prinney had also heard the knock on the door and now appeared behind Lily. “I’d like to see what you have. Come on in, young man,“ she said, glancing at the small bus.
    Lily had been about to tell him she didn’t have time and close the door on him.
    He scurried back to his bus and returned with a small suitcase. “Wait till you see all the good things I have in here.“
    “Let’s go to the kitchen,“ Mrs. Prinney said, leading the way. Mrs. Prinney loved company of any kind or age.
    She gave the big wooden table a swipe with a cloth, although it was almost as clean as an operating table. “Sit yourselves down.”
    Kelly Connor opened the suitcase and it held a virtual cornucopia of sample-sized products. Ball Band galoshes that would fit dolls in brown, blue, red, gray, and green. Tiny cans of Old Dutch cleanser. Three small tubes of Tangee lipstick.
    Mimi, their maid, had heard them talking and came into the kitchen with her platinum blond hair tied up with a blue kerchief with only her bangs showing. “Oh, what I’d give for a tube of Tangee. I absolutely love the smell and taste of it,“ she said, pulling out a chair to sit with them.
    “Keep one then,“ Kelly said, grinning. “I have lots of the full size in my bus. The only thing I don’t carry around is the real galoshes, because they come is so many sizes and colors that I don’t have room in the bus.“ He handed the second lipstick to Lily, who opened it and took a deep, satisfying sniff.
    Mrs. Prinney demurred. “My husband doesn’t like me to wear lipstick.“
    “He’ll hardly notice. It’s a very light color,“ Kelly said. “It’s not goopy. It just stains your lips a very light pink. C’mon, try it, madam,“ he said with a naughty grin.
    She went into the hall, applied a bit sparingly, and looked in the mirror. “You’re right, young man. I’ll take a real tube,“ she said as she came back to the kitchen.
    “So will I,“ Lily said.
    Mimi chimed in, “Me, too. But what does it cost?“
    “Only fifteen cents. It would cost twice as much in a shop—if you had a shop in Voorburg that sold it,“ Kelly said.
    He proceeded to pull out other samples. Little bound pieces of Martex towels in many pretty colors. “Just put these up to your cheeks and feel how soft they are,“ he urged the three women. Next was a small box of Bisquick.
    “What’s that?“ Mrs. Prinney asked.
    “It’s to make pancakes, biscuits, topping for fruit desserts. It’s already got the baking powder in it. Just the right amount.“
    “I’ve never heard of such a thing,“ Mrs. Prinney said. “Lily, read the recipes on the side of the box. They’re too tiny and I don’t have my glasses.”
    Lily did so. “You just add milk for things like pancakes or sugar for dessert. You can make almost anything. How big is a real box of this and what does it cost?“
    “Only twenty cents for a box about this big,“ Kelly said, making a gesture. “I could go to my bus and show you a real box if you want to see one.“
    “Later,“ Mrs. Prinney said. “What else is in there?”
    He pulled out a packet of Fleischmann s yeast. “It’s good for your health, especially in the winter when there isn’t much sunshine.”
    Next were three tiny bottles of Listerine, packets of Sanka coffee, small tubes of Colgate